January 26, 2006

The Rush Creek Wilderness Trail

A
typology of an interpretive trail sign indexing the Rush Creek
Wilderness Trail (Phase 1) was produced for the University Art Gallery
"New Faculty" exhibition, 1/13/2K6 to 3/25/2K6. The Rush Creek Trail
was produced by a C5 Landscape Database API "virtual hiker" and then
followed on foot through the actual wilderness.

The Rush Creek Wilderness Trail

The
Rush Creek Wilderness Trail is possibly the world's first
computationally derived, unofficial public wilderness trail. It
traverses the backcountry of far northeastern California, extending to
near the border with Nevada. It was first "discovered" by a computer
algorithm called a "virtual hiker" that pre-explored the landscape by
"hiking" through a virtual landscape consisting of data provided by the
U.S. Geological Survey. The virtual hiker found a traversable hiking
path between the trailhead and the terminus, both of which were very
much arbitrarily chosen by Brett Stalbaum, the author of many virtual
hiker algorithms for C5 Corporation.
The results of the virtual hiker's exploration produce a tracklog
(computer file) which can be uploaded to a GPS device and then followed
by a real hiker through the actual landscape. There is no "trail" per
se, only a rugged overland backcountry track that can be followed with
the assistance of a GPS device. The trail provides beautiful views of
the Great Basin desert environment, plentiful wildlife viewing
opportunities, and the unique experience of comparing the wayfinding
abilities of a virtual hiker to your own wayfinding skills and
intuition.

Phase 1 of the trail (From the Rush Creek
Wilderness Trailhead to Rush Creek Spring) was opened by Stalbaum
December 27th and 28th of 2005. (See Photo Journal for more info). Phase 2 (from Rush Creek Spring to the Nevada Border), will be opened sometime during 2006.

Comments

A
typology of an interpretive trail sign indexing the Rush Creek
Wilderness Trail (Phase 1) was produced for the University Art Gallery
"New Faculty" exhibition, 1/13/2K6 to 3/25/2K6. The Rush Creek Trail
was produced by a C5 Landscape Database API "virtual hiker" and then
followed on foot through the actual wilderness.

The Rush Creek Wilderness Trail

The
Rush Creek Wilderness Trail is possibly the world's first
computationally derived, unofficial public wilderness trail. It
traverses the backcountry of far northeastern California, extending to
near the border with Nevada. It was first "discovered" by a computer
algorithm called a "virtual hiker" that pre-explored the landscape by
"hiking" through a virtual landscape consisting of data provided by the
U.S. Geological Survey. The virtual hiker found a traversable hiking
path between the trailhead and the terminus, both of which were very
much arbitrarily chosen by Brett Stalbaum, the author of many virtual
hiker algorithms for C5 Corporation.
The results of the virtual hiker's exploration produce a tracklog
(computer file) which can be uploaded to a GPS device and then followed
by a real hiker through the actual landscape. There is no "trail" per
se, only a rugged overland backcountry track that can be followed with
the assistance of a GPS device. The trail provides beautiful views of
the Great Basin desert environment, plentiful wildlife viewing
opportunities, and the unique experience of comparing the wayfinding
abilities of a virtual hiker to your own wayfinding skills and
intuition.

Phase 1 of the trail (From the Rush Creek
Wilderness Trailhead to Rush Creek Spring) was opened by Stalbaum
December 27th and 28th of 2005. (See Photo Journal for more info). Phase 2 (from Rush Creek Spring to the Nevada Border), will be opened sometime during 2006.